Violins and Violas
by Berlioz II
Summary: Riku decides to cheer Risa up and they spend the Saturday together. Lots of twin stuff within this link because this fandom needs it .
1. Prologue in Two Parts

_Okay, just thought I'd try at long last to write something again._

_This originally began life as a oneshot in sections, but I decided to change that and make it more of a series of short moments, drabblish stories, and other such bits and pieces of varying lengths._

_I have for some time wanted to do a fic that would concentrate on the Harada Twins alone with no great romantic connections, just as there simply are none on the site really. So, this is basically a "day in the life" sort of thing and most of this stuff is likely to be short, so be warned. Note, there will be no character bashing!!! I do not believe in such childishness._

_DNAngel © Yukiru Sugisaki, 1997  
Original Story © Berlioz II, 2007-09_

* * *

It was another one of those swelteringly hot Saturdays, the kinds that would even make your underwear sweat. Another day on which there was nothing to do but just be – be and not have any commitments to bother with until the advancement of another week. The Harada mansion, seated at the top of the Masada Cliff, perfectly encapsulated the general atmosphere of the town of Azumano that very day. Mr. and Mrs. Harada were still on their lengthy 'round-the-world trip in God knows where that had been on-going for the past year now and were not likely to return for some time yet, leaving their two daughters to basically do what ever they wanted to pass the time on their own. Not that either of them considered that a particularly disagreeable situation, but there were times when the healthy presence of their parents might have actually been of some use or comfort and not make the girls feel almost abandoned at times.

But considering the adventures that both of them had experienced during the last insurgence of the "Dark" epidemic over the course of the year, the absence of their parents might have actually been more of a blessing than anything else... or at least a blessing to one of the girls, if not to the other in quite as great an extent. You see, the younger of the sisters, Risa (though be it only at five minutes), had taken a special interest in Dark and had done her utmost to get together with him. Unfounded or not, what probably in the beginning indeed was nothing more than a huge celebrity crush had in the intervening seven months blossomed into something deeper for the girl and at least burgeoning into something quite close to true affections. However, the relationship didn't really go that smoothly and ended in Risa's feelings stumbling with their own impossibilities, sending her on a path of uncertainty that had been so clear before.

By contrast, her sister Riku, had in the mean time made significant headwave with her own affections she never knew she had. Over the course of trying to keep her romantically heady sister from doing something irrevocably regrettable with her insane romantic plans, Riku had developed her own interest in the bumbling red-head Niwa Daisuke, who had originally had a crush on Risa, but which over time had shifted to a full-blown romance towards the older twin. It had come to Riku almost as a shock, but one that she embraced with all her heart, though thankfully she had been totally unaware of Dark's connection with Daisuke until after being almost thrown to her death during the Azumano quakes. Ever since then Riku and Daisuke's love had truly taken off, so that there was barely a moment they didn't spend time or do something together.

However, this Saturday had proved to be one of those exceptions when nothing seemed to happen. Riku was at that very moment pretty much bored out of her wits in thinking of what to do, particularly as Daisuke had gone out of town with his parents for the day and there wasn't anything else Riku could think of to alleviate her sense of increasing monotony. Farther down from the hall, from Risa's room, she could hear the quietly melancholy strains of Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez floating down to accentuate her feeling of despondency. This was in fact one of the things that slightly irritated Riku. Ever since the disappearance of Dark, her sister had slumped into a semi-depression that was really eating at Riku.

Even though Risa had already long before accepted that there was no future with Dark and the best she could do was to be a supportive friend to him, his disappearance had still left a big gap in her heart. With Dark, Risa had at least felt like she had some kind of an objective in her life, but now there seemed to be nothing, no purpose for her life. Always a stalwart romantic, her entire life had focused on relationships and finding the "right guy", but now she just felt there was nothing to direct her heart towards, no real reason for her existence. And if anything, that really frightened Risa. Was her life really of no more value than that of a sausage past expiration date? She certainly hoped not. Not to mention her sister Riku seemed to be getting exactly the things Risa had dedicated her life to getting. Risa was happy for her sister and her happiness, but couldn't escape the nastier feelings of jealousy this also generated. Of course, this she would never disclose openly and tried her best to ignore the thoughts, but the persistent nagging feeling of uselessness was always there in the back of her head. Was she forever destined to be viewed as the "younger Harada", the inferior copy of her maturer twin, in the end not really worth a damn?

Or maybe she was just lonely now that Riku spent all her time with Daisuke making Risa feel totally abandoned... Well, it certainly was enough to make her disheartened with everything around her.

This general apathy did not go unnoticed by her twin, and truthfully made Riku really worried for her sister. There had been times when Risa had been depressed before, but these had rarely lasted longer than a day. This had been going on for close to a month now. It seemed as if Risa's life right now pretty much consisted of going to school, going home, sleeping, going to school, going home, sleeping, and so forth. It simply wasn't like Risa to be that down for so long, and frankly Riku missed the energetic Risa; the Risa that could always make her smile; who would always try to find the positive sides in everything, no matter how gloomy; the one that seemed to generate the kind of life force and love for life that made Riku enjoy it all the more herself. Now it was as if her sister was giving up on all those things Riku admired about her and bringing forth a mocking imitation of her twin that was both false and jaded. Well Riku was certainly not going to have any of that!

Getting up from the sofa, Riku headed for her sister's room, resolved to get her out of this slump. Reaching her door she gently knocked and, once she got a vague "hmh" as a response, stepped inside. Surrounded by the almost shocking pinkness of her room of plushy curtains, stuffed animal toys and an overall "cuteness," as people would say, was Risa, laying on the floofy pillows of her bed staring at the roof. The air was filled with the haunting sounds of the guitar concerto, while Risa seemed almost unaware of her sister's presence.

"Hey, Risa. How's it going," Riku asked.

Risa just gave a slight "Hmh, it goes."

"It's beautiful outside, isn't it?" she continued.

"Mmmhm... Yeah, I guess it is," Risa continued with the same monotonous drone.

"Hey, I have an idea! Want to go shopping?" Riku said trying a sure fire thing to get Risa enthused.

"Mmmm, no thanks... I think I'll just stay at home," Risa responded with boredom clear in her voice.

'_Hmmm, this is serious,'_ Riku thought, _'This requires drastic measures.'_ And with that she jumped on Risa's bed and started to furiously tickle her.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!!! Riku, whaa...aaat are you.... doing?!? AAAHHIIIIHHH!!! Stop it! Stop it!! You know how ticklish I am! JAAAIIII!!!" Risa screamed and tried to wiggle in Riku's hold under those assiduously moving fingers rapidly going over her ribs.

"Not until you snap out of that freakin' gloom!" Riku snapped back.

"Okay! Okay! Anything! Just please stop tickling! Please!!!" was all Risa could say to make her sister stop.

While Risa was trying to regain her composure from that sudden surge of hell her twin could sometimes call forth, Riku began, "You know I don't like seeing you depressed like that. It doesn't suit you. So come on, let's do something together. It's a beautiful day out there, so why don't we just go and enjoy it?"

"What about Niwa-kun? Why aren't you with him?" Risa questioned back.

"Well, he's on a trip with his parents, so I really can't..."

"Ah, so I'm the back-up plan when Niwa-kun's not around, is that it?" Risa said without helping to feel a bit hurt.

"What!? NO! No, of course not. Why would you even think that?" Riku shot back even more hurt.

"Well, isn't it true?"

"No! I want to be with you because you are my sister and I care about you, not because I'm bored or consider you like some sort of a substitute while Dai-kun's not here. Come on, Risa, what is it? What's wrong with you? You've been like this for ages now, and I'm getting worried."

Risa just shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just finding it more and more difficult to be that cheerful... as if there's no more substance to my life than an empty box of cereals. It just all seems so pointless."

"Well, that's all the more reason to go out into the world and enjoy what you do have. Not to mention, should you not happen to remember, we're twins. When you're depressed, I'm depressed, and I hate being depressed. The only thing I hate more than being depressed is seeing you depressed. So will you just get up, stop moping around, and let's go have some fun," Riku ordered.

Sigh... "Fine, might as well. It's not as if I have anything better to do," Risa gave in.

"Good. I'll see you ready in ten... umm, no fif... thirt... – an hour, okay?" Riku said before going back to the living room to wait for Risa to make herself presentable to the outside world.

"Why, oh, why must she always have to do everything the hard way?" Riku mumbled to herself.

_

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Okay, so much for the prologue and as I will also suspect most of the psychological part... though that will undoubtedly not remain so. I'll post new stuff whenever I get something done. If anybody wants to suggest any possible scenarios I can write of, you are free to leave them in the review part... or any general other thorns or roses should you wish to offer them (I won't demand reviews). Hope you enjoyed, though._


	2. The Sprint

_A transitional chapter, in which the twins leave the house. Nothing much more to it._

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An hour and thirty minutes later, Risa was finally ready to go outside. Riku on the other hand had fallen asleep on the sofa.

"Riku? Riku, are you ready?" Risa asked, bustling into the room, only to find her sister peacefully sleeping with a serene look on her face. "Awww... Doesn't she look so sweet..." she quietly mused to herself with a little smile. "Would be such a shame to wake her up..." With that Risa gently kneeled beside her sister's head, brushed a bit of her hair back, and ever so delicately whispered "RIKU!!!!"

Needless to say their departure was delayed for another fifteen minutes that took for Risa to fix her hair and make-up after ending up in the clutches of an aggravated Harada Riku.

°O°O°

Once both of them finally stepped outside, Riku wearing her usual tomboyish T-shirt/shorts/snickers combo and Risa a short, lightly flowing yellow dress with a matching ribbon tied in her hair, the two girls pondered for a moment where they should go.

"I've got an idea! Let's go mountain climbing to the Hotaru Cliffs," Riku suggested with a lot of enthusiasm.

"Mountain climbing? That's your idea of fun?" countered Risa who was clearly not nearly as taken with the suggestion.

"Okay, then how about doing a nice 25 kilometer trek around the outskirts of town?"

"Riku, I swear you really need to have some variety in your hobbies. All you ever seem to do is spend you time running around and exercising when ever you're not canoodling with Niwa-kun."

"Oh, look who's talking, Miss 'What-Clothes-Should-I-Wear-Today-And-How's-My-Makeup'! Really, admit it, you obsess just as much with your appearance than I do with my workout plan. In fact, it wouldn't be a bad thing if you actually did some exercising a bit more yourself, lest you want to turn into a tubby, out-of-shape lump."

"Hmmh. That was a little uncalled for. First of all that's never going to happen because I take good care to keep my figure, and secondly I don't see what's so wrong in wanting to not look bad. And I do think it wouldn't hurt for _you_ to pick up at least some of my style tips you so prodigiously try to not listen to."

"Wait, are you calling me unattractive?"

"Of course not, Riku. You're more like a... how should I say... ummm... a diamond in the rough. And I bet Niwa-kuuuun would appreciate it too if you just took a liiiiittle pride in your outward appearance," Risa said with a teasing voice.

The reddening Riku decided that she better stop giving her sister more fuel for her romanticist fancies and quickly changed the subject: "Okay, then fashion guru, since you're so on top of things, how about you suggest what to do?"

Risa just sighed and said: "Look, why don't we just go to the park first and see where to go from there, okay?"

"Fine, sounds good enough to me. Hey, I'll race you!" And with that Riku lightly slapped Risa on her arm and, without more ado, sprinted away from the front yard, leaving a bewildered Risa standing behind.

"Race...?"

°O°O°

Careering down the street, Riku was enjoying the fullness of the warm day as she sped fast down the road. Soon, however, she noticed that she had almost totally forgotten Risa behind and thought it would be best not to aggravate her sister more by continuing along, so she decided to wait for her to eventually catch up. It wasn't long that a decidedly tired-looking Risa hurried down towards her, looking as if she would soon pass out.

Once she had reached Riku, Risa just doubled over and panted heavily, her hands resting on her knees.

"Hmh. See what I mean when I said you could do with some more exercise? You're totally wasted even after a small sprint like that. It's really almost pathetic," Riku croacked at her twin.

Risa just panted back: "Riku... you... are such... a pain... at times... But.... you didn't... count on... one... little... thing..."

"Oh, and what would that be?"

Risa suddenly stopped panting, turned her head to give a wry smile to her athletic twin and calmly said: "I actually have been training..." And with that she suddenly straightened up and zoomed past Riku down the street, leaving her sister staring after her with eyes wide.

"Risa! That was a nasty trick! Hey, wait up, will you?! RISA! COME BACK HERE!"

_

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Yeah, I know, it was a bit meh. But hey, I know my limitations. Any feedback is, of course, always appreciated._


	3. Ice Cream

_I haven't written anything new for this in such a long time, so now again not having anything else unfinished, this seems the perfect time to set something new up._

* * *

Risa was beat. She wasn't just beat but she was absolutely exhausted.

"Mou, Risa! Didn't you just say you had been training? How can you be so tired so fast?" Riku asked as she watched her sister pant next to her with her hands on her knees, almost seeming as if she'd pass out at any moment.

"I... did... But it... was so... hard..." Risa panted back, causing Riku to roll her eyes at the obvious lack of motivation on her sister's part. _"Why the hell do I have to have an identical twin that is not identical at all?" _she grumbled in her head.

After Risa had sufficiently regained her stature, Riku suggested they might as well get some ice cream now that they were at the park. Happily Risa seemed to, for once, be on the same page with Riku and the two walked off to find an ice cream vendor.

Happily chancing to find one not too far away, the two strolled at the man seated at a small ice cream cubicle beside one of the small dirt roads that criss-crossed all over the park.

Behind the counter was an extremely bored looking individual, dressed in the standard goofy looking ice cream man's uniform that Risa had dubbed as "the result when a milk man is stuck in a freezer".

The two girls traipsied to the counter, causing the man behind the it to perk up a bit to deliver some tired out ice cream jingle with no apparent enthusiasm: "Holla, holla, holla, don't you just love a piece of cola..." he rambled amid a yawn.

The twins saw it as best to ignore the guy's apparent unenthusaism and went straight off to ordering their treats. Riku picked out a standard vanilla cone with some mint-flavoured strussels strewn on top, while Risa on the other hand, as was characteristic of her, went all out. She ordered a super-duper mint-liquorice-strawberry-banana extravaganza with all manner of decoration and sauces to go along with that, in essence being a combination that made Riku's eyes buldge out from the sheer extraordinariness of the dish. In fact it was a wonder how the whole thing even fit the chocolate-lined and cream-puffed little cone at all.

"Risa... you know you're not going to be able to eat all of that, don't you?" Riku questioned with her eyes still boggled over at her sister's fantasy-like dream sequence-worthy ice cream spectacle.

"Oh, come on Riku. Of course I'll be able to eat it. You know how much of a downer you tend to be sometimes?" Risa said while carefully balancing her ice cream that was mangled through Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.

Sigh. "Fine, whatever," Riku answered while taking a lick of her stock vanilla cone.

°O°O°

The two girls sat down on a bench, enjoying the warm sunshine and the contrasting coolness generated by the ice cream. While thus engaged, they preoccupied themselves in observing the world as it passed by them; how people rushed here and there even during the weekend; how children screamed for toys and parents seemed to be on the verge of a mental breakdown; how butterflies fluttered past completely oblivious to everything around them; how lovers cooed to each other their undying love pledges; and how pleasure seekers were playing games on the grass amid a lot of laughter.

"Nee, Riku..." Risa began, "Have you ever wondered about the lives of other people?"

"Other people? What do you mean?" Riku puzzled.

"I mean, like... see that guy on that bench over there reading the paper? What do you think his life is like?" Risa explained.

"You mean like hypothetically?"

"Yeah. I often like to just look at other people and imagine what their lives are like. Like that guy I mentioned. He probably comes here every Saturday to sit on that bench and wait for his true love to walk past... you know, like in the movies. And he is convinced that one day it will happen, so he never gives up... until he finally thinks it never will and then BAM!"

"He gets hit by a bus?" Riku asked confused.

"No!" Risa huffed. "Then he'll meet her! Mou, don't you have any sense of sentimentality?"

"Yes, but it's all in you," Riku responded. "Besides, you know something like that would never happen in real life."

"You know you are such a cynic, Riku?"

"No I'm not. I'm a realist. And stuff like that only happens in movies. You know, like look at that family having a picnic over there. I bet they have a nice little place in the suburbs and their dad finally has a chance to take some time off from work, so he treats his whole family to a fun day out on a gorgeous day. Just eating and enjoying the warmth and the chance of being together. And then, when they get home he probably has some kind of a surprise in store that will make this an unforgettable day... like maybe he's bought some bikes for the kids and then he and his wife will share some romantic moment and... and... what?" Riku suddenly stopped as she saw her sister's face fixed in a grin.

"A realist, huh? Sounds more like a heartfelt romantic just waiting to burst out," Risa giggled.

"Am... am not! It could happen," Riku retorted, her face turning crimson.

"Yes, of course... oh, like that woman over there. She's probably getting over a heartache over somebody and has decided to take a hold of her life. So now she's decided that moping around her home isn't going to make anything better and is now out to discover the beauty of the world anew. Just trying to forget and learn to find love again... and that's enough reason for her to keep on going and try to put the past behind her..." Risa wistfully said.

"Like what I'm trying to do for you?" Riku softly asked.

"Huh?" Risa turned her head towards her sister in question.

"Whoop! Whoop!" was suddenly heard near them before Riku could say anything back to Risa. The two girls turned their heads toward a young woman who was excitedly gaping at them, while a similarly aged man, probably her boyfriend, stood nearby in apparent embarrassment.

"Look, honey! Look! Aren't those twins?" she excitedly pointed at the two girls. "Squeel! They look sooo cuuuuuute! Like two sisters just enjoying each others company, it's so sweeeet," she exclaimed while blushing so ferociously she seemed like she was choking.

"Yes... yes, sweetie. But maybe they'd rather like to be left... alone..." the man began, only to be cut short by another squeal from the woman.

"They're so cooool! And cutey cutey cutey! Hey there! Hey there! You're so cute aren't you? Aren't you? Oh, yes you are," she cooed as she ogled to them and wiggled her fingers at them in a small wave type gesture.

When she started doing this the man suavely came about and said, "Honey, maybe we should get going. I'll buy you an ice cream, okay?"

"Okay!" she jumped in excitement and the two went their way, the woman still wiggling her fingers towards the two girls with a wide smile on her face. Risa and Riku didn't know quite what else to do except just slightly wave back at her.

"She needs children," they both concluded.

By this time, Riku has already long since finished her ice cream, but Risa still had a healthy serving of her's left.

Looking at her still unfinished magical ice cream, Risa sighed in dejection, "Umh... You know Riku, I don't think I can finish this ice cream... it's just too much..."

Riku just drooped her eyelids and, with a quick arm movement, splashed Risa's ice cream right in her sister's face.

"HEY!!!"

_

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I enjoyed that little chapter. Fun and easy to write once I got an idea for it. Hope you liked it too (the few who actually care enough to read this; and I have no idea how many there actually are)._


	4. A Hat

_Woohoo! I got a whole seven clicks on my third chapter. I'll make it official here that nobody seems to be interested in this story, thus it seems the perfect reason to continue writing it._

* * *

"Come on Risa, you can't still be mad about that ice cream," Riku told her sister who seemed ready to generate enough negative feelings to create a small stormcloud over her.

"Well, was it absolutely necessary to splash that thing right in my face?" the younger twin complained, not yet being ready to forgive her sister for her transgression.

"I'm sorry, but you know you were kinda asking for it," Riku reasoned somewhat awrily.

"Oh, sorry, guess I didn't think of it like that. Well then! I guess since I was asking for it, I suppose that makes it all perfectly acceptable. Wow, how dumb am I? Hey, how about throwing me down the cliff next?" Risa said with slashing sarcasm.

Riku sighed deeply and said in a very persuasive fashion, "Okay, okay. I'm sorry I did that to you. It was wrong and not very nice. I mean it was just a reflex anyway, so I really had no intention of upsetting you. Will you just let bygones be bygones? I'm sorry, and I won't do it to you again. Okay?"

Giving Riku a sideglance, Risa decided that it was probably not worth the bother to remain angry at her twin and sighed, "Okay. I forgive you."

"Heh, thanks Risa. I knew I could count on you," Riku said with a sickly sweet tone and an exaggerated smile as she bent closer to give Risa a walk-a-by hug.

Following their planless excursion, the two then continued to walk around the park as the sun reigned down its warm rays on the sweltering planet. While so continuing onward, the two girls suddenly came to a halt when an even younger girl a little ahead of them suddenly shouted: "MY HAT!!"

A sudden gust of wind had blown a wide-rimmed summer hat right off the top of the little girl's head and was now scurrying on its way towards the twins. "Hey! Come back! Somebody, please, catch it!" the little girl shouted after her escaping possession.

"I'll get it!" both twins shouted at the same time, while leaning down to catch the approaching piece of wardrobe, only to have their heads violently collide with each other as they simultaneously bent over to grab the hat going past their feet.

"OWWW!! My Head!" they yelled as they staggered away from each other and fell on their butts on the road, while the hat gently breezed past them and, after another gust of wind, flew high up on a branch of a tree just off the side of the two girls.

The little girl had by this time already caught up with the twins and looked up dejected at the tree where her hat now sat perched on the tip of a branch.

"Oh, man! This sucks! That's my very favourite hat, too," the girl complained with tears starting to rise into her eyes.

Forgetting for a moment her pain and aggravation towards her sister's similar mode of thinking, Riku focused on the little, crying girl and, in a moment of absolute desire to make the world a better place to live in, she got up and said to the girl, "Hey, d-don't cry, little girl. Everything's all right. Tell you what. What if I'll go up there and get that hat back for you, okay?"

The girl looked up with her water-soaked eyes and whispered, "R-Really...?"

"Sure, of course I will," Riku said back with a big grin on her face.

"Th-Thanks..." the girl sniffed back, her eyes lighting with a little ray of happiness and gratitude that caused Riku's heart to swell three times over its size.

By this time Risa had also already got up and was now looking on as Riku turned towards the tree where the hat was stuck on, looking like some big conqueror sizing up her opponent.

"Riku, you sure you know what you're doing? That tree's pretty high," she questioned.

"Of course I do. I'm going to climb up there and get the hat for this little girl," Riku stated smugly.

"Easy there now, Asakura Minami. What do you think you are, some sort of a superwoman?" Risa argued back.

"Well, do you remember when you got that stupid hat of your's stuck in that tree during that one hike? Who went off to get it, hmm? That's right, me," Riku said with decisiveness.

"And then you fell down the cliff! You could have killed yourself! Or at least got seriously hurt. What, are you somehow trying to build up my confidence at your abilities?" Risa shot back. "I mean, you know you're a bit of a klutz..."

Mistake. Riku's eyes suddenly shot up in fierce determination and defiance when being called somehow less than her athletic best in situations like this, and causing Risa to quiet down in a small tremble of apprehension upon the fierce look in her sister's eyes. "Are you trying to say I can't do it? As if this is something completely impossible for me to accomplish? Well, dear sister, let me prove to you once and for all what Harada Riku is made of!" she announced with pride and fortitude.

After giving Risa a hard glare to make sure she wouldn't make another snappy comeback, Riku strode over to the tree filled with confidence, took a good, firm hold of the trunk, and started her arduous climb towards the higher echelons of the tree's branches with not even a second thought shed upon any possibility of danger.

Fired up by her goal and the doubts expressed by Risa, she climbed ever higher and higher, not bothering to take her eyes off her prize. Riku climbed and climbed and climbed, searching for little crevices in which to jam her fingers into and push herself up with nothing but the desire to show that sister of her's that she was not going to be regarded as a failure in anything regarding winning a specific objective, no matter what it was. She was after all Riku, the most athletically accomplished master of her school's sports team.

Risa, on the other hand, could only look from the ground in worry as her sister climbed higher and higher.

"Wow, she's really brave," the little girl said beside her in awe.

"And just as stubborn too..." Risa said under her breath.

After about five minutes of climbing, Riku finally managed to get to the same level of the branch where the hat was stuck on. Taking a short while to catch her breath, she started slowly inching her way over the branch and towards her prize, her goal, her objective, that was shining in her eyes like the Holy Grail.

Luckily the branch was sturdy enough to hold her weight and it allowed Riku to safely maneuvre her way towards the hat that was just a few more inches away from her grasp.

After nearing the edge of the branch, she reached out with the smell of victory in her nostrils and grabbed the hat with one swift move of her hand, holding it up triumphantly and with exultation in her voice, "I did it! I did it! I am the best!"

But, as if Riku just needed to be reminded about the world's cruel sense of irony for all her gloating that these things always inspired, the branch she was sitting on suddenly gave a very disconcerting crack from its base, causing it to lurch slightly downward.

For a split second, Riku was stuck in an "Oh, crap" expression, before her fears were confirmed as the branch cracked some more and then detached itself from the tree, causing the hat-holding Riku to fall down towards the ground below.

"RIKU!!" Risa screamed in horror upon seeing her beloved sister hurtling towards the ground. But as if all the gods and sprites and guardian angels and whatnot were at that particular day smiling down on the world, Riku couldn't have been luckier as she landed straight into a thick bush that broke her fall, while she had not actually been all that high to have anything truly serious happen to her regardless.

Before you could say "the sixth sick shiek's sixth sheep's sick", Risa was already by the side of her sister, who was looking up towards the sky in slight disorientation, while still holding the hat in her other hand.

"Riku! Are you alright? Riku! Say something," Risa said with much concern in her voice.

"Shinji had a little mecha, it was coloured purple..." Riku said as her sister's four worried faces were doing spins in front of her eyes.

After a moment, Riku's brain levelled enough to cause the world to come back to her with more clarity.

"Are you all right, Riku?" Risa repeated her question, placing more emphasis on her words this time to add the required weight on them so that her sister could pick up on the necessity of answering the question.

"Y-Yeah... I... I guess so," she said quietly after looking herself over.

"Good," was all that Risa said as she grabbed the hat from Riku's grasp and walked back to the little girl a little way back.

Sitting up, Riku was just in time to witness how the girl yelled, "Yay! You got it! Thank you so much!" and then gave the smiling Risa a big hug before prancing away with the hat firmly placed on her head.

Riku could not believe her eyes. After all that effort, Risa was taking all the credit? This was going too far. Sister or no sister, Riku felt herself boiling over. Getting up and furiously striding towards her twin, she was almost beyond reason to manage to formulate any words. Thus she instead decided to substitute words with hand signals expressing exasperation.

Risa noted her sister's wordless communicae and simply said, "That's for the ice cream," a remark that had the desired effect in causing Riku to stop and stare in disbelief. "Besides, I told you that stunt of your's would be dangerous. You know you could have really been hurt. So maybe next time you'll actually listen to me before going off doing silly things like that. May that be your lesson for the day," Risa sincerely, and somewhat annoyed, finished her criticisms and walked off.

Riku was left in utter confuddlement over what to say to that. She knew her sister was right, but the day Harada Riku admitted to being somehow wrong was the day she'd turn in her own stubborn dignity, and that day was far, far away as far as she was concerned.

"Are you coming or not?" Risa called behind her.

Deciding it would be best to just leave it at that and not possibly receive any further embarrassment on her part, Riku stomped after her waiting sister.

"_Okay, I'll let you win this round, Risa. But rest assured, dear sister, I'm going to get you eventually..."_ Riku internally grumbled as the two siblings continued on their way again on that hot Saturday afternoon.

_

* * *

Another day, another chapter. Caused me a bit of a problem though, since I couldn't think up a story for this chapter. The hat thing was a moment's inspiration, so I wrote that under having nothing better coming to my mind. Competitive Haradas... gotta love 'em! :) Revenge Riku-style coming up next... I guess. Or not. I don't know. Well, if anybody actually cares enough to read this, that is._


	5. Comparative Psychology

_Oh, the hits I get on this story are mindblowing. Well, I had a part of this written already around the time I started doing this, but I only now got around to a point where I could finish it. I'm not sure this is all that good a chapter, but hope you enjoy it still._

* * *

It took Riku some time to get her face to resemble anything other than a sour grimace. She did not like to be humiliated like she had with the hat incident and certainly not by her sister of all people. And if there was one thing that really irritated her, it was indeed that very fact that Risa was her _sister_, thus making the whole situation even more frustrating for Riku than in any normal situation. Had it been anybody else, Riku would not have spared her wrath... not even for Daisuke.

But, Risa was a different case. She was after all her sister, and it was sister-morally wrong in Riku's opinion to do something like she'd usually do to everybody else. Whether she liked it or not, Risa was that one special case to her that demanded her to be more forgiving than in general. For if she treated her with something differing to what she called "twinly fondness", she knew that in the end it would just end up making herself miserable and feeling so naggingly guilty that she'd just had to, God forbid, apologise to Risa to alleviate that guilt.

And that was not what Riku's stubborn pride would easily let her go through with. No way in the world! Therefore she considered it easier to swallow her ire and soldier on with as much dignity as she could muster.

But still, it didn't mean she had to like it.

On Risa's side, she wasn't blind to her sister's mood, being so well in tune for knowing that Riku's self-esteem had probably experienced a little dent. Riku was always like that when she felt her pride had been mistreated, and it always caused a little surge of amusement to run through Risa. It had always given her a small amount of hilarity to be able to push Riku's buttons like that, just as she knew Riku loved to do the same to her as well.

These little games were something both of them liked to play on one another every now and again, and to be able to manage to pull some kind of a reaction was always a goal they were striving at. The important thing, though, was that at the same time they knew that these mind games were never too serious and were easy to correct.

"Hey, Riku?" Risa asked after having gotten enough of Riku's sullen pouting, "Do you want me to apologise?"

Riku just lifted her gaze towards Risa's face and, after a small pause, simply said, "No."

Risa's chuckled lightly at Riku's seriousness, "Jeez, aren't you all gloomy. Some _big_ sister you've turned out to be..." she said, putting emphasis on 'big', "I thought big sisters were supposed to act as role models for the younger ones, and not do silly stunts like that so that our younger impressionable minds didn't get wrong ideas for what's okay to do."

"Oh, be quiet. Besides, you know we're twins," Riku irritably said back.

With that, Risa's face suddenly lit up, "Oh, ho! What's this? You're actually acknowledging that we are twins?" Risa sarcastically said.

"What? What are you talking about? When have we not been twins?" Riku asked with discernible confusion.

"Eh... I don't have to refresh your memory that you are the one who's always emphasising that you're the older one. It's usually _me_ who has to remind _you_ of our twinness," Risa reiterated.

"That is so not true," Riku indignantly said.

"Come now, Riku. You don't have to play ignorant with me. I know you too well. You like being the older sister. You like to be the one in charge and do all of these things to prove your dominance or something. You, my dear sister, are an egomaniac," Risa finished.

"I am not! That is such a gross over-exaggeration!" Riku vehemently countered.

"Oh yes you are..." Risa smugly said in a sing-song voice.

"Well let me just say: Hah! That's really something, coming from the Queen of Vanity of all people," Riku shot back.

"I... I'm not vain!" Risa defensively said.

"Your not? 'Oh, what am I going to wear today? I must try these 20 pieces of clothing before going out! Oh, is my make-up perfect? Mmhmm... Maybe I should wash my hair for the _fifth_ time! Oh, look at my nails, they need to be filed again! Oh, gosh, I'm not blushing am I?'" Riku imitated her sister.

"I am not like that at all!" Risa shouted indignantly when suddenly ending up under the spotlight like that.

"You are so too like that," Riku backed her argument.

"Hmph! Well, maybe you're just being jealous. After all somebody around our family has to look good, don't they? And since you're so obviously not up to the task, it seems that all of that just falls right to being my responsibility," Risa humphed back.

"Say what? And you have the audacity to call _me_ an egomaniac? Jeez, Risa, you're worse than I am," Riku leered.

"Yeah, well, maybe I'll just ask Niwa-kun about that..." Risa suggested.

"D-don't you dare!" Riku yelled with her face turning pale.

"Hmh... Coward."

"Annoyance."

"Egoist."

"Narcissist."

"Jock."

"Prep."

"Insensitive."

"Over-the-top."

"… Yeah, I love you too, Riku."

"… (sigh) Same to you too, Risa."

"Besides I don't know what you have to complain about. You even have a bigger chest than I have," Risa said off-hand after a short silence.

"W-w-what?! What are you talking about?" Riku asked very flustered, "My chest is just the same size as your's!"

"No it's not. Your's is a couple of millimeters larger... which is so totally unfair! As the considerably better looking of us, shouldn't I also be better endowed?" Risa bluntly asked, causing Riku to flare up in a monster blush.

"Not to mention you even got a boyfriend before me, so I think you really have nothing to moan about... big ego or not," Risa further said.

"Urh! Risa, sometimes you really make my patience thin out," Riku grumbled. "Besides, what about Hiwatari-kun?"

"What about him?" Risa asked confused, wondering what the blue-haired genius boy had to do with anything all of a sudden.

"What do you mean 'what about him'? I mean, surely you know he's got a crush on you?" Riku asked with a mischievous smile.

But if Riku had expected Risa to get embarrassed about what she said and start stuttering denials, she had another, rather more unexpected thing coming. Instead Risa burst into boisterous laughter.

"HAHAHAHA!! Th-That's so funny, Riku! HAHAHA!! That surely the funniest thing I've heard in a long long time! You... You should have become a comedian! HAHAHAHAA!!" she spluttered.

Riku on the other hand just stared at her wildly cracking sister. "What? I was being serious."

"Yeah, right... HAHA... Ice King Hiwatari... the guy who... HAHA... has rejected all other girls before... EHEHEHE... a crush... Y-You sure know h-how to cheer me up!" Risa managed to say before doubling over again for a new fit of laughter.

"It can't be that funny," Riku said a bit miffed.

Composing herself enough to be able to give a more calm response, Risa said, "Yes... yes it is. I mean, come on! You know how absurd that sounds? Hiwatari's always been distant and cold and smart and reserved and all... and now you say he's got a crush on _me?_ That's absurd. I'm so not his type!"

"Oh, how do you know you're not his type? Have you asked him?" Riku asked with a bit of a hint on something more suggestive.

"Please, will you stop with the innuendo, Riku. We're totally different. If the greater populus of the girls in school are not good enough for him, then what makes you think I'd be any more for his taste. He'd probably rather go for some bookworm type, or something anyway," Risa explained.

"You know, that's one thing I've never understood about you. How can you at times be so perceptive of other people, yet always be so clueless when it concerns you?" Riku shot back. "I mean, you know Dai-kun had a huge crush on you before, but you didn't notice a thing. Then you thought Dark loved you and see how that turned out..."

"Hey, that was a low blow!" Risa said back annoyed.

"Sorry, but it's true! And now it's the same thing again with Hiwatari-kun. Come on, Risa! He's totally got the hots for you. Trust me. I mean, he tries to hide it behind that cool façade of his, but I've seen him trying to steal glances at you every moment he can as if I couldn't tell," Riku explained with a slight glimmer in her eye.

"You know, sister, you've gone totally off your rocker this time," Risa responded. "I mean, come on! This is Hiwatari-kun we're speaking of. The coldest, most unfeeling guy I've ever seen. Everything is an equation to him, and I'm sure there is a calculator where his heart is. Mr. 'I don't have time for girls' Hiwatari... if he wanted to have a relationship, he sure has had many candidates to choose from. What would make me any different?"

"I don't know... Maybe because outside of just about the entire female populus at school, you're the only one _not_ interested in him," Riku began, ignoring Risa's annoyed looks. "Or maybe it's because he's had more encounters with you due to the whole Dark thing. Or because he knows you have hidden strengths nobody is aware of, kind of like he does. Or maybe it's just simply because you appeal to him more than the others. Don't under-estimate the hormonal urges of guys," Riku concluded.

"He calls me annoying. As far as I know, that is not a term of endearment."

"Well, you know he's somewhat unusual."

"Agh, we're like oil and water!"

"Which are you?"

"Water of course... Don't try and confuse me!"

"Why are you getting so flustered?"

"No... am not! Will you stop teasing me, Riku."

"Is that a blush I see?"

"I'm... I'm not... blushing... You're just imagining it."

"Right... Well, if you say you don't find Hiwatari-kun attractive at all..."

"I never said that!"

"A-ha! Busted! You so find Hiwatari hot."

"- - - ... Okay, I admit he's not _un_attractive, but we're too different. It would never work."

"Well, you know what they say: opposites attract..."

"Riku! Umh... I can't see why you always have to be so mean to me..."

"Hey, what are sisters for?" Riku said with a huge smirk.

"Well BLERRHHH!!" Risa said giving Riku a tongue as the two fell into silence again... though this time it was Risa who was feeling less than gracious and Riku was grinning smugly. _"I told you I'd get you, Risa._

* * *

_Well so much for that. I know barely nobody is reading this, but who cares? I sure don't. :)_


	6. A Tumble

_Chapter Six is short. This was actually the kind of things I was supposed to write in this story originally, but heck I just couldn't stop writing properly long chapters. This one was among the first I wrote, but I couldn't just randomly put it somewhere. Therefore it gets posted this late in the game._

* * *

As the two girls were walking forward again, Riku had managed to pull Risa into more of a flustered embarrassment state that made her seem troubled and absorbed in her own little inner world. Somewhat apprehensive that she had put her sister in a state that could essentially cause her to remain in a furtive temperament for some time to come, Riku started thinking of possible ways to snap her out of it when Risa didn't show any signs of doing it herself after a few minutes had passed. Thus, when chancing to pass a particularly lush looking spot on the grass, Riku was suddenly struck by a master idea.

Without any warning, she impulsively shouted out: "RISA!"

And with that she grabbed Risa by the waist and caused both girls to tumble onto the grass, rolling in a heap of flailing arms and legs, and ending up in a tangled mess on top of each other. After laying there for a while, Riku still grappling Risa's slender waist, Riku suddenly burst into hearty laughter, while Risa was feeling both flustered and confused as to what just happened.

"Riku! What the hell was that all about?" she shouted.

Riku eased on her laughter and simply responded: "Oh, nothing really. Just felt like doing that and see what happens."

Risa couldn't believe her ears. "See what happens? What... what did you think was going to happen? That we were suddenly going to sprout wings and fly off into the Land of Oz or something? Riku, are... are you okay?" Risa said with worry in her voice, a bit worried that maybe her sister had suffered some kind of a mental disorder from her fall from the tree. This was not like her sister at all. She never did anything spontaneous and totally stupid like that... or well, she did, but never anything this pointless.

"Oh, Risa, I'm fine! Come on, let's go already," Riku said while extending her arm to pull Risa up from the grass.

Risa, still a bit frazzled by her sister's odd behaviour, just sighed and grabbed her sister's hand. And with that the two continued on their walk as if nothing had happened, though Risa was sure to keep her guard up from here on forwards should her sister decide to indulge in some more ex tempore "fun."

* * *

_Yep, short and sweet. From now on end, I have nothing actually pre-written for this, so it'll probably take a while to add anything new. _


	7. Mermaids

_Okay, it's been a while since I've written anything for this. But I got the idea for this chapter, and thought this would be a fun one to write. It's not the best thing I've ever written, but I think it's good enough. I'm also bumping the rating up to T just for safety's sake should somebody get a hizzy fit on some non-graphic nudity in this chapter.  
_

* * *

"Oh, jeez... It's so hot..." Risa complained.

The sun had by this time already reached its apex and was shining down its sweltering rays with even more of a vengeance than earlier that morning. The twins had now been walking around for almost two hours, the most they had actually spent time together in quite some time, and the heat of the day was already starting to bring them down a slight bit... well, Risa more than Riku.

"Ah, I wish we had brought our swim suits with us. I could really use a nice, cool dip in the ocean right about now," Risa dreamily continued.

"Yeah, tell me about it. I knew it was a hot day today, but I wasn't quite prepared that it was this hot out," Riku acknowledged.

"Oh... I should have brought my cap with that little solarpowered fan with me. Would have provided at least a little coolness," Risa said.

"Really? And you would have actually _worn_ that thing?" Riku asked doubtingly.

"Well, why wouldn't I have?" Risa asked a bit confused.

"Because, for as long as I have lived, I have never had the pleasure to know Harada Risa to wear something tacky or unfashionable. You seriously want me to believe you would have willingly walked about with a light blue plastic cap with a fan decorating your head? You'd traverse the Sahara Desert in high heels as long as it meant you'd be fashionable and looked good while doing it," Riku laughed.

Risa cast an indignant look at her sister. Okay, she had to admit that Riku had a point, and it would have been with the utmost reservation that she would have donned such a stupid apparatus on her being, but admitting defeat to Riku now would just make her seem like a superficial pushover, and Risa didn't want to seem like a superficial pushover.

"I would so have worn that thing if I needed it. I'm not _that _vain, you know," Risa stated.

Riku just gave an amused look and giggled a bit, causing Risa to further admonish her sister, "I am not! And I'll have you know I would have worn that cap with pride."

"Right, so you say..." Riku said completely unbelieving.

"Yes I would have! Though I will admit, Riku, that it probably would have looked a little too... childish on me. So that would have probably been the only argument against me wearing such an article. But otherwise I wouldn't have had any problems wearing the cap, so there," Risa victoriously finished, happy to have shown her sister who's who.

Riku, though, simply regarded her sister with slight amusement, not for a second believing Risa's declarations to the contrary. Riku knew her sister through and through, and she could see the shiver in Risa's eyes when obviously imagining the cap on her head, but Riku allowed Risa to have her supposed little victory on this matter. Sometimes it was just so fun to tease her.

But the heat of the day was still an issue that remained unresolved. It was then that Riku had a sudden brainstorm on a possible solution, or at least a temporary one.

"Hey, Risa! You mentioned a dip in the ocean? What say we go for a swim?"

"Swim? But we still don't have any bathing suits with us. We can't really go without them, right?" Risa argued.

"We could always go back home and get them," Riku offered.

"Hiking back to the mansion? In this heat? No thanks," Risa sweated.

"Psh... I can't believe how lazy you are," Riku admonished.

"I'm not lazy! I just... tire easily, that's all. I mean, we can't all be such sports freaks like you, Riku," Risa said indignantly.

"Freaks?! I'm not a..." Riku started, but quickly quieted herself up. She knew better than to try and start arguing over this subject with Risa. "Arh... Look... okay, okay, forget about it then."

"What say we just go sit under the shade of a tree or something? I mean, that wouldn't be too bad either," Risa suggested, not wanting to seem totally ungrateful to her sister's efforts.

However, Riku seemed to be hit with a completely new idea as she snapped her fingers, "Or... maybe we can go swimming after all with no need to bother with swim wear..."

"What do you mean?" Risa asked, a bit perturbed by the look in her sister's eyes that never seemed to bode well in her experience. It was exactly the kind of look that said 'I have come up with the best idea ever thought up' in Riku's humble opinion.

"Well... I just so happen to know of a place..." Riku said with a sly look on her face.

"W-what place?"

"A secret cove... with a little sandy beach. Shallow waters... Completely secluded from prying eyes. And it's not even far from here," Riku said stealthily.

"A... a secret cove? What secret cove?"

"Oh, just a place I happen to know..."

"Where exactly?"

"Not far. I'll show you. It'll be perfect. And no one will disturb us."

"Are you sure? I mean, really sure that a place like that is such a secure place? 'Cause I'm not really that sure. Sounds a little risky..."

"Oh, I'm sure. Don't worry about it. We'll just take a quick plunge in the cooling water and be right back out again. No one will ever know."

"But we don't have any towels or anything..."

"Oh, the sun will take care of all that. It's so warm out we'll be dry within minutes. Come on, it'll be perfect," Riku finished enthusiastically.

Risa wasn't exactly that confident as her sister seemed to be, finding the whole proposition pretty questionable, hazardous and prone to have things go wrong somehow. But then again, it would be so great to take a little dip, even if it meant taking the risk of skinny dipping in some concealed place she didn't know anything about.

"Well... if you're sure, Riku..." Risa said unsurely.

"I am," Riku said in adamantly. "So, come on. Day's a wasting. I guarantee you'll love it."

With that, Risa decided to accept her sister's plan and the two started to head toward Riku's secret cove, though Risa decided to hold on to her reservations until proven otherwise.

°O°O°

The cove Riku was talking about was a small, secluded area at the side of the steep cliffs that lined the town of Azumano beside the sea, and which was also part of the cliffs on top of which the Haradas' mansion stood. It wasn't a large place, but the sandy area was large enough to house a decently sized beach party if people were to know of its existence.

Arriving through a small, rough pathway at the edge of the cliffs, Risa looked on in awe at the cove. This was certainly a place completely hidden from the view of everybody, yet it was so near the main town area that Risa wondered how such a place had gone unnoticed by her for so long. It was intimate... romantic even. A perfect place where one might bring a date and not be bothered by anybody – which was something that immediately appealed to Risa's imagination, making her instantaneously forget her prior reservations.

"Wow..." Risa gasped out loud.

"See? Told you so," Riku said proudly.

"How did you find this place?" Risa asked.

"Oh, I just happened to stumble onto it while on one of my jogs. I saw that little pathway, thought I'd investigate to see where it led, and then found this really calm and peaceful place. I've often come here just to calm down every now and again after track practice. And I've even brought Daisuke here sometimes, too. Perfect for a little romantic getaway," Riku explained.

"Niwa-kun knows of it too? And you've never bothered to tell _me_ about it?" Risa asked slightly annoyed.

"Ehehe... Well, it's nothing personal or anything, Risa. I just... kinda liked that this was something I just had... like my own personal retreat or something," Riku sweatdropped.

"Right..."

"But, hey! Now you know about it, so... no harm done, right?" Riku said in a quick ditch attempt to prevent her sister from getting too indignant.

"Yeah... you're such an open sister, aren't you?" Risa deadpanned.

"Umh... well... Hey, let's get out of our clothes and dip in. I'm sure the water's great," Riku said enthusiastically in order to steer Risa's rising bad temper away from the supposed sisterly negligence.

Risa just gave a heavy sigh and acquiesced to Riku's plea, proceeding to slowly remove her clothing along with Riku.

For the next thirty minutes, the two girls had fun in the water. The water was wonderfully cool, and with the sun reigning down so heavily, there was no danger of getting cold, particularly as there was a noticeable lack of a breeze coming out from the sea.

Even Risa quickly forgot the possibly compromising position of being in the nude and simply enjoyed her little water games with Riku, just having fun without having to care about any onlookers drooling after them. Riku, likewise, was having a lot of fun, and for the first time that day she really felt she had reached a synergy with her sister in which their disparities didn't come in the way of having simple fun – to just enjoy the strong bond the two girls shared and which they could inherently always feel.

After lots of swimming around, diving and other water-related activities, the two girls slowed down to admire their surroundings. Floating at the shallow water levels of the beach, Risa gave a merry giggle, "You know, Riku. This is probably the best thing you've come up with in a while."

"In a while? What's that supposed to mean?" Riku said with good humour.

"Oh, nothing... It's just great to see you so loose for a change. You're just so... umm... well... uptight most of the time, that it's just great to know you can actually have some fun every once in a while," Risa told her.

"I... I know how to have fun," Riku said as she blushed a bit.

"Yeah, I know, but you're just usually so serious that it's not always that apparent," Risa continued.

"Well, can you blame me, with you – the merry-go-round of life – as a sister? One of us has to be the responsible one, and it might as well be me since you don't seem to be interested in that," Riku said.

"Hey, I can be serious if I want to. I just prefer to enjoy life instead of moping about every little thing. And it doesn't mean you have to be like that all the time either, does it?"

"Hey, I'm _not _like that _all _the time. And I don't 'mope' around. You're just exaggerating as always," Riku said back.

Risa simply tilted her head a bit and gave Riku a 'yeah, right' look, and causing Riku to slightly heat up again. "Oh, yeah? Well, I'll show you 'moping', dear sister!" she exclaimed as she started to splash water on Risa.

Risa covered from the sudden onslaught of saltwater coming toward her, but soon got to the flow of it and started giving Riku the same by countering Riku's splashing with her own torrent of water. Thus the two were once more caught up with a furious splashing war, giggling with new-found energy and glee, enjoying the friendly game of waterfall.

And thus they continued until their moment of abandon was suddenly interrupted by the sound of voices coming near by... voices that certainly were not welcomed to this scene in the slightest.

It wasn't long before their fears were validated as a steady trickle of small children started flooding into the "secret cove". Of course, it wasn't exactly hard for the kids to notice two girls in the water, just a little off the shore, making them quiet down as they one by one spotted the twins.

Following the children came the voices of two adult women as well, "I didn't know there was such a place here."

"Indeed, I found it by accident myself, but it's a perfect little place for the children. There no heavy currents and the shore is shallow. It's much better than the crowded public beaches on which it'd be really difficult to keep an eye out for everybody," the second female voice stated.

"Yes, you're right, it is..." the first woman continued, but her chatter was also soon brought to a deafening close by the sight of Riku and Risa staring in horror at the gathered group of kindergartners who had just happened to wander on to their secluded little spot.

Obviously the cove wasn't as unknown as Riku had thought it was.

"Ms. Hanajima! Are those mermaids?" a little girl excitedly asked.

The twins slowly glanced at each other, and then, without anymore ado, sunk below the surface of the water, their faces bright red from embarrassment.

"_Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God..." _was all that was running through their heads.

_

* * *

So there you have it. Another chapter done for this little piece very few actually read. It's also funny to note that this story was started in November of 2007, so it is a very old story by now for it to still be unfinished. But then again, that was the whole point point of me even starting to write this. Feedback as always is welcomed._


	8. Masterminds

_I'm not too happy with this chapter since it's almost pure filler and I'm not sure whether I could have played more with the sisters' wonderful abilities to mis-plan stuff, but I just needed to move from the last scene to the next and not make this chapter generally longer than the rest. It does, however, feature some actual plot related material so maybe this isn't a total loss._

* * *

"'It's perfectly safe! Nobody even knows about the whole place. It'll be fun and nobody will know at all what we've been doing,'" Risa mocked Riku as they were now walking on the street again, away from one of the most embarrassing moments of their entire lives.

The two girls had literally wished for the earth to swallow them up whole, or for the sea to carry them as far away from that scene as possible. Even thinking back on it felt so incredibly shameful that made the deep blush they still wore almost a constant feature on both of their faces as if somebody had applied a boxful of makeup haphazardly to them in an effort to hide their regular skin complexion. And it wasn't just that the group of kindergartners with their carers had been on the site itself that bothered them so much, but the fact that both sisters were completely in the nude, and were forced to go through the whole, long and agonising walk-of-shame deal to get to their clothing as the adults were trying to shield the children from seeing any more than they already had and giving icy glares toward the poor girls.

The scene was bad. There was no way out of it, and the twins didn't even have time to dry themselves up in the sun as they threw their clothes on and made a hasty retreat before anything worse could happen.

"'Just a quick plunge in the cooling water, and no one will ever know,'" Risa continued.

"Okay, okay! I get the point!" Riku said pointedly, "I made a mistake, alright? I mean, how was I supposed to know that the cove wasn't as unknown as I supposed it was? It's not like I planned or _wanted _this whole thing to go like this."

"Oh my God! I've never been so embarrassed in my life. Never! I should have known that something was bound to go wrong, as is usual with your plans, Riku," Risa miserated.

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" Riku asked a bit irritated.

"Well, you know it's not exactly uncommon for your plans to not work like you've originally thought them up, Riku. You do it all the time," Risa explained.

"Hey, that's a bit uncalled for, don't you think? You're over-exaggerating this whole thing way out of proportion once again. And no way am I some sort of a Backfire-Plan-Annie," Riku said dismissively.

"Oh, really? Not like that one time you - for some reason I don't get - invited Niwa-kun to that one restaurant, what-ever-it-was, and only once you got there you found out it was closed for renovations?" Risa said sarcastically.

"That could happen to anybody. And what do you mean 'for some reason'?" Riku said embarrassed.

"Guys are supposed to ask girls out, not vice versa. And no, it doesn't happen to just anybody. I mean, let's take another example… Oh, how about last year when you were put in charge of helming the fundraiser for the class? You made everybody wear those weird snake costumes, as if to maximise profits when people'd be interested in something a bit eye-catching, and then failed to get almost anything because everybody thought we were some religious sect or some kind of charlatans," Risa said.

"It was a sound plan! It could have worked," Riku defended.

"The operative word being 'could'. Or, how about…" Risa started, but was interrupted by Riku having heard enough.

"Alright, alright! I get it! Granted, some of my plans haven't exactly always been great successes like they were meant to be, but it's not like you have anything to gloat over, Risa," Riku said back.

"What do you mean by that?" Risa asked, feeling a bit baffled.

"Well, it's not like you yourself are some kind of a mastermind or anything. Your usual plans aren't any more successful than mine," Riku said back.

"What? T-that's not true at all!" Risa argued.

"No? Then I suppose that one time you thought it'd be less taxing to use rollerblades to go to school instead of walking there, but ended up wasting over half a day in even trying to stand up with them before you threw them into the closet, was a resounding success," Riku said.

"It was a good idea! Just… those blades were broken or something," Risa defended.

"Sure they were. As broken as that instance you claimed it'd be a cleansing experience to down a litre-and-a-half of soda without pause. Then you found out the hard way that that wasn't really cleansing at all," Riku smirked.

"I was young and reckless! People do stupid things when they're young," Risa said, looking now very red.

"You're _still _young and reckless, Risa. Like that time you seriously planned on going on a bunch of 'practice dates' with a bunch of different boys to 'gather data' just so when you'd go on an actual _real _date, you'd be better prepared to know what to expect. Thank goodness I managed to talk you out of that one…"

"Well… it sounded like a good plan in theory at the time… or it felt like a good one. But… I guess I'll… have to give you that one… that it probably wouldn't have been such a… good idea…" Risa grudgingly stammered.

"Yeah. And of course one can't forget all those crazy plans you came up with when trying to corner that 'wonderful' and 'dreamy' _Dark-san__…_"

"Don't go there!" Risa harshly interrupted her sister's flippant words with a sense of seriousness that made even Riku shut up, surprised by the tone. "Do not bring Dark-san into this. You can criticise me of whatever you like, but Dark-san is off limits. Understand?"

Riku looked at her sister shocked. The change had been so instantaneous and so completely alien to the girl she had called her sister for 15 years now. She had never seen Risa like this before as she looked at her shorter-haired sibling with such cold eyes and with no humour or warmth radiating from her, the traits that normally were such a predominant feature of her little sister, always playfully dancing behind her eyes. But now Risa wasn't even smiling, and she looked so serious that it almost made Riku shiver a bit from a small amount of dread her sister's rigid coldness inspired.

With some effort to compose herself, Riku looked down a bit, seeming ashamed, and said a quiet "Sorry."

Seeing this, Risa herself seemed to get a bit remorseful too when noticing she had obviously made Riku feel uncomfortable and, with a heavy sigh, she turned away from Riku and quietly said, "No, I'm sorry… I… didn't mean to snap at you like that, Riku. I… I guess I just… I'm sorry."

Riku on the other hand saw that she had hit a particular sore spot and just wanted to kick herself. Even if Riku had never said anything about it, she knew quite well that Risa's apathetic state over the past month couldn't have been influenced by anything else than the disappearance of the Phantom Thief. She had thought it best to leave Risa to sort these things out on her own and only get involved if it really became necessary, but apparently that pervert still had a strong hold over her sister to the extent that he could still hurt Risa on an emotional level even beyond from where ever he had ended up vanishing to. And now Riku had been foolish enough to drag those very feelings out again that she had brought Risa along to forget in the first place.

_"Great. Nice going Riku__…" _Riku thought glumly to herself before laying a hesitant hand over Risa's shoulder and murmured, "No… _I'm_ sorry, Risa. It's my fault. I was really… out-of-line. I know Dark meant a lot to you, so it was really cheap of me to joke about it. I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay," Risa quietly answered off-hand, still facing away from Riku, apparently trying not to seem as pathetically weak as she was feeling right now.

Riku in her turn gave a sad look and, instead of bothering to waste any effort in words, simply threw her arms around Risa from the behind and pulled her into a warm embrace. Risa wasn't shocked and made no move to resist, and after a small moment of standing like this allowed herself to relax and slightly lean back into her sister's body, lifting her own hands to rest over Riku's clasped ones on her abdomen, and gently leaned her head against her sister's, succumbing to the care Riku was showing.

This was just one of those little gestures that Risa truly loved about Riku. For all the roughness and tomboyish behaviour her sister outwardly projected, and how she usually wanted to be seen as a strong and independent person, she could sometimes really be such a big softie who could radiate such warmth that always made Risa feel so incredibly comfortable and safe. Just… very nice. They didn't even need to pass any words as the simple touch was all that either ever needed to reach a plane of understanding that would forever be theirs and theirs only.

The girls stayed in this position for almost two minutes before quietly separating, Risa then turning to face her twin with a gentle smile on her lips.

"You feel better now?" Riku asked with sympathy in her voice.

Risa nodded and said a simple "Yeah. Thanks, Riku."

Riku also offered a smile, "Sure thing. Whenever you need it."

"Okay," Risa was content in saying.

"Now then… now that that's settled, what say we forget about that argument we just had and go do something else?" Riku proposed.

"Alright," Risa responded with slight anticipation, "What do you have in mind?"

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm starving. What say we go and have a quick bite to eat?" Riku said.

Now that Riku mentioned it, Risa did feel a bit hungry. After all, they hadn't really eaten anything substantial since breakfast and it was already past 4 pm. So with that, Risa gave an enthusiastic nod of approval, "Okay. I think I could really use something to eat."

"Great! So let's go then. In fact, I have the perfect place already thought up, too," Riku beamed.

"This one _not_ closed down, hopefully?" Risa said with a mischievous grin.

Riku just gave a playful slap on Risa's arm and said, "Of course not."

"Great then. Let's go. But it better be some place good," Risa quipped as she started walking again.

Riku smiled before catching on to Risa's teasing remark. "Hey! What do you mean 'a good place'? Are you trying to say I have no taste? Risa! Hey wait up! You take that back," she shouted as she ran after her retreating sister who was wearing an amused smirk on her face.

_

* * *

Yeah, a little on the side of filler. But it gave me an opportunity to have a bit more sister bonding stuff seeing as they tend to bicker often due to their opposite personalities in this story, so that's good. Not one of my best instalments, but the next should be more fun._


End file.
